Ramos, Canaleta lift Mahindra past former team NLEX for first win

MANILA, Philippines – Aldrech Ramos and KG Canaleta both played big in their first games against their former team to lead their new squad, the Mahindra Enforcers, to their first win of the 2015-2016 PBA season, 103-93, against the NLEX Road Warriors on Friday, November 13, at the PhilSports Arena.

Ramos finished with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting and 6 rebounds, while Canaleta had 14 points and pulled down 5 rebounds.

Overall, the Enforcers shot 48% from the field and hit 10 of their 24 attempts from long range (42), which wound up being their strongest point of attack against NLEX.

“I think we played with [a] sense of urgency,” said Mahindra assistant coach Chito Victolero, whose club entered the game losers of 3 straight against Rain or Shine, Talk ’N Text, and Alaska.

“We learned a lot. We [got] this win. I’m very thankful to the players who stepped up, especially Bradwyn (Guinto) and Kyle (Pascual). They did a good job on defense on Asi (Taulava),” the coach later said.

Taulava, however, was still on fire for the game as he finished with 31 points (most in his last 8 seasons) on 11-of-14 shooting plus 9 rebounds. Sean Anthony also played well for the Road Warriors, accounting for 19 points, 13 boards, and 7 assists.

Unfortunately for the Road Warriors, their bench was vastly outplayed by the Enfocers’, 45-27.

“Now, medyo nawala yung pressure. Nakuha namin yung first win namin. I think yung mga bata naman, they’re working hard in practice,” said Victolero.

(Now, the pressure has regressed. We got our first win. I think our kids, they’re working hard in practice).

Mahindra was ahead only by 5, 64-59, with 1:24 left in the third period when they went on their game-changing run.

Canaleta commenced the rally with a jumper to put his team up by 7 with 1:24 to go. After a split at the foul line by Enrico Villanueva, Ramos came down and nailed a 3-pointer to make it a 69-60 game.

Mark Cardona was then called for a travelling infraction, which was followed by Canaleta’s own 3-ball. Later on with 4 seconds left in the quarter, Paolo Hubalde hit a jumper to give his team a 14-point lead entering the final period.

NLEX never recovered, leading to the defeat.

“I think majority naman, tinatakbo nang systema namin, halos medyo alam na ni KG at Aldrech,” Victolero

said about his new pieces, who he believes had a “motivational” factor since they played against the team that traded them.

(KG and Aldrech already know most of the system we’re running.)

The victory also snapped a 13-game losing streak in the Philippine Cup for the Enforcers, who also posted their biggest winning margin in a game since entering the PBA last season.

While Mahindra moved up to 1-3 with the win, NLEX suffered their second straight defeat and fell to 2-2 in the Philippine Cup.

Scores:

Mahindra (103): Canaleta 14, Pascual 14, Ramos 14, Revilla 13, Yee 11, Hubalde 9,Guinto 8, Pinto 7, Bagatsing 5, Alvarez 4, Dehesa 2, Webb 2, Jaime 0.

NLEX (93): Taulava 31, Anthony 19, Enciso 9, Arboleda 8, Villanueva J. 8, Borboran 5, Cardona 4, Alas 3, Camson 2, Reyes 2, Apinan 1, Villanueva E. 1, Khobuntin 0, Lanete 0.

Quarter scoring: 26-16, 51-43, 74-60, 103-93 – Rappler.com